


Christmas Eve Eve

by lyricaldanceflap



Category: Peter Kay's Car Share (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-10 13:16:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12912702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyricaldanceflap/pseuds/lyricaldanceflap
Summary: It’s the day before Christmas Eve and Kayleigh’s miserable. Set three months after the events of 2x04. I wrote this on a boring Sunday the second week in November. It’s unedited, so if it’s shite I apologise.





	Christmas Eve Eve

Her shift had been an absolute nightmare, and that was putting it lightly. In previous years, she hadn’t minded the hustle and bustle of the supermarket over the Christmas period but back then she hadn’t been nursing a broken heart. The worst part, she thought to herself as she jammed her key into her locker and pulled the door open, was the couples. Loved up couples buying their last bits and pieces before Christmas, full of seasonal cheer. A few months ago, she’d dared to hope that she and John would be like those couples come Christmas. But of course, everything had gone tits up, and for the first time in her life, Kayleigh Kitson wanted to be as far away from the tinsel and sparkling lights as possible.

“See you, Kayleigh! Have a good Christmas, love.” Elsie gave her a warm smile and a wave as she exited the locker room, the door slamming shut behind her.

“You too, Elsie!” Kayleigh called.

With Elsie gone, she found herself alone in the room, sighing as she heard the muffled sound of Christmas music coming from the shop floor.

She reached into her locker and pulled out her navy work coat from where it was resting on top of her bag, shrugging it on and fluffing her hair. It was only because her coat was out of the way that she spotted the red envelope sticking out from underneath her handbag. She looked around, confused. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to hand out Christmas cards by pushing them under the gaps of the lockers, what with everyone working different shifts, but after a quick glance at the lockers near hers, she could see no evidence of red envelopes in anyone else’s. Besides, it was the day before Christmas Eve, it was a bit late for Christmas cards at this point.

She wriggled the envelope out from under her bag and nearly dropped it when she recognised the handwriting. Her name was written across the front in his sloping scrawl and her eyes filled with tears, half angry/half hopeful, as she turned it over and ripped it open with shaking hands. She almost smiled when she saw the front of the card, her mind immediately flashing back to the hundreds of conversations they’d had over summer about this time of year. The card was covered in glitter; reindeers, penguins, and polar bears alongside a snow filled background.

Her heart was racing and she took a deep breath, trying to crush the hope that was fast rising in her chest. It could just be a simple ‘happy Christmas’, after all they _were_ friends for quite a few months before everything had gone so very wrong. He could just be trying to do the right thing by reaching out and attempting to repair their friendship. The thing was, she didn’t think she could ever be ‘just friends’ with John again. Working together meant that there hadn’t been time to heal, to try to get over him, and even though it was a large supermarket, she often found herself bumping into him… most of the time while trying to avoid him.

Those exchanges were always awkward, and often happened when no one else was around. They’d usually see each other in the back, and he’d offer to carry a couple of boxes of whatever it was she was handing out that week to save her doing two trips to the warehouse. He’d set the boxes down by her promotions stand and on more than one occasion she’d been sure he was about to say something, at least until a look of blind panic crossed his face, then he seemed to back out, nod at her and quickly make his exit. She knew he kept track of when she was on her breaks, though, as they never seemed to bump into each other in the canteen any more. Not since their argument, anyway.

Taking another steadying breath, she opened the card and read the message.

_Merry Christmas, Kayleigh_

_Sorry it’s taken me so long. I hope I’m not too late._

_Love always,_

_John x_

She stared at the card for what seemed like a long time, not realising she’d started crying until a tear dripped onto the paper.

A part of her wanted to march up to him the next time she saw him and tell him that he was too late, that he’d put her through three months of heartache, not to mention the summer of mixed signals, that she still thought about their last afternoon in the car together every night before she went to sleep, that she couldn’t listen to half of her favourite songs anymore because they reminded her of _him_ , and that she never wanted to hear from him again outside of work.

But annoyingly, she was still very much in love with the man she hadn’t dared to look at properly over the last few months. Her heart was racing at even the possibility of being able to finally work this out, to talk to him and hear his side of the story. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of person who wanted to hurt someone in retaliation to her own pain. She wasn’t going to run straight into his arms, though, she vowed to herself as she wiped her tears away and noticed another two pieces of paper inside the card.

Curiously, she picked them up and realised they were tickets. _Forever FM Christmas Eve Extravaganza_ jumped out in shiny red letters and this time she couldn’t help but smile. Forever FM had been advertising their live Christmas show for weeks and it sounded like just what she needed to get her into the spirit… until she’d asked around her friends and they’d all regretfully told her they had plans with their own families on Christmas Eve. Bands from around the North West, along with one or two well known stars, would be performing in Manchester and her favourite Forever FM presenters were hosting. She’d been gutted when she realised she wouldn’t be able to go. John must still listen to Forever FM, she realised with a tear stained smile as she tucked the card and tickets safely away in her handbag.

She walked out of the locker room in a trance, only coming back to her senses when she pushed open the staff exit door and the cold hit her. Snow was falling fast, made even worse by the harsh wind, and she quickly zipped up her coat and put her head down to shield her face from the snow flurries as she started walking briskly over the car park.

However, she’d only made it a couple of steps before she heard his voice.

“Kayleigh.”

Apart from the quiet whooshing of the wind, it was silent in the carpark, meaning he didn’t have to raise his voice much. When she looked over, the streetlight shone down on the red Fiat and its driver, warm and inviting.

She could’ve made him sweat, stood there and pretended to be deciding whether or not to walk over to him, but before she knew it they were standing face to face by his car and she was fighting the urge to wipe the snowflakes from his face. Instead, she folded her arms tightly across her body in a desperate attempt to warm herself up. Looking at John, _properly_ looking at him for the first time in so long made fresh tears well up in her eyes. The soft intensity in his eyes as he met her gaze was breathtaking and she could tell he was determined to fix what had happened between them.

“So, did you get me card?”

She nodded.

“And am I?”

Confused, she tilted her head to one side, and saw a hint of a smile cross his face. “Are you what?”

“Too late.” He swallowed. “Am I too late?”

Reluctantly – because her teeth were chattering due to the cold at this point – she uncrossed her arms and reached into her bag. She quickly found what she was looking for and held it out towards him. When he took the ticket from her their hands brushed and it took every bit of her self restraint to resist holding onto his warm hand.

“Oh.” He looked down at the ticket, clearing his throat as if he was trying not to cry. “Right then, I’ll-“

“Are you slow, John?”

His head snapped up, and it was his turn to look confused as he noticed her amused smile.

“I’ve got the other ticket, remember?”

She could almost see the cogs turning in his head for a few seconds before he broke into one of his trademark grins she’d missed so much.

“So, you’ll go?”

“It’s Forever FM… _Christmas_ themed Forever FM, what do you think?” She grinned.

“No brainer really, weren’t it?”

“Bit big headed, Johnathan.”

“No, I didn’t mean-“ He stumbled over his words until she closed the small distance between them and put a comforting hand on his arm.

John flinched, feeling the iciness of her hand through his suit jacket. He took her hand in his, barely holding on at all, giving her the opportunity to pull away if she wanted to, if she thought it was too soon to be back to _this_ again after their months apart. She held on, though, tangling their fingers together and smiling up at him softly.

The gesture encouraged John, and he brought his free hand up to get rid of the few snowflakes that had managed to settle on her face, gently swiping them away with his index finger. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second, an involuntary reaction to his touch, and when she opened them again he was looking at her like he had on the night of the staff party, the night they’d almost kissed.

“I haven’t half missed you.” His voice cracked, and he let out a shuddering breath.

Eyes flickered to lips and Kayleigh reached up to hold onto the lapel of John’s blazer as she pulled herself up on tiptoe and they slowly leaned towards each other.

This time there were no interruptions as their lips met in a soft kiss, only the slight noise of Christmas songs coming from the almost empty supermarket. They were lost in each other for a while, a few times attempting to pull away from each other, some little corner of their minds reminding them that they were still at work. However, it was a couple of minutes before they managed to stop being drawn back together, but when they did finally pull apart both of them were wearing soft, shy smiles.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Kayleigh giggled.

“Clearly.”

She lightly slapped at his chest, unable to move properly from her place in his arms, but she was too content to complain.

“So…”

“So…”

“Do you want a lift back to your Mandy’s?”

She nodded, a new wave of happiness overwhelming her at the thought of being back in the Fiat with John.

“Come on, then.” He nodded towards the car without taking his eyes off her, and leaned down to steal another quick kiss before letting her go.

She walked around to her side and got in, their doors slamming in unison as John started the engine and the radio came to life. Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You played softly through the speakers and they looked at each other, wide eyed.

“I’m sure that bloody radio has planted hidden cameras in ‘ere.” John said.

Kayleigh giggled. “I love this one!”

“I know you do.” He paused. “Look in the glove box.”

She flipped the overhead light on and opened the glove box, spotting what he was talking about straight away.

“Now That’s What I Call Christmas!”

“It is. We need to get warmed up for tomorrow, don’t we?” He said, pulling out of the parking space and setting off out towards the main roads.

“That we do, John.”

Kayleigh put the CD in and skipped straight to track four, reaching out for John’s hand as Driving Home For Christmas started playing and the snow continued falling on the quiet streets as they drove home together.


End file.
